East Indies and China

Circa 1790–1820

Copper engraving with original hand-coloured outline

Print size: 6 x 9.5 in (15.5 x 24 cm)
Sheet size: 6.75 x 9.75 in (17 x 25 cm)

The East Indies and China—A Rare Early 19th-Century English Atlas Map of Britain’s Expanding Asian Maritime World

A finely engraved and visually compelling early nineteenth-century English atlas map depicting the East Indies and China at the height of European maritime expansion in Asia. Extending from the Indian subcontinent across the Bay of Bengal to the South China Sea, the map encompasses Siam, Cochinchina, the Philippine archipelago, Borneo, and the islands of the Sunda chain—a geographic theatre central to British and Dutch imperial commerce.

The engraving reflects the transitional cartographic moment in which European mapmakers combined long-established coastal knowledge with still-imperfect understanding of inland Southeast Asia, producing a sheet both functional and historically resonant. Original outline colouring distinguishes political and regional divisions, while the restrained boxed title cartouche suggests production for a widely circulated general atlas or educational geography.

Although the publisher’s imprint is not visible from the present image, the map belongs stylistically to the flourishing English atlas trade of circa 1790–1820, when copper-engraved maps of Asia were issued for both scholarly and commercial audiences.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot is offered at NO RESERVE

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition of each lot.